Car Parking at Solent Uni

Hello, Can anyone please help?!

I should be starting at Solent Uni this September, I was planning to drive from Bognor every day to Uni. (Bit crazy I know, but I have my reasons) But someone recently told me that Solent Uni doesnt have a car park. This would seem kinda stupid as a lot of people would be travelling to get to uni, i would guess.

So is this true? And if it is, is there anyone who currently drives back and forth to Solent Uni. Where do you park? And if you have to pay how much is a weekly/season ticket?

This car parking issue is really putting me off going to uni there as a monthly train ticket would cost me £234.70!!

Reply 1

Just some guy

I don't know about Solent, but I hear Southampton uni has rubbish parking (1st years can't even get permits iirc), and as Solent is in the middle of the city I doubt it's any better.

Reply 2

fuzelogik

The main Solent Uni building is on Commercial Road, I think... there are reserved bays across the road outside The Old Fat Cat, but I don't know how much it costs to park there. That might be a good place to park (if I remember, it never really got full up there either).

Failing that, there are a few huge car parks somewhere in the city (not sure where they are, but there are signs around saying how many places are available in each). If you can park in the city centre somewhere, getting to the Solent Uni building is only a short walk - about 5 minutes from Asda, 10 minutes from the city centre.

Reply 3

Clubber Lang

Hi,

Solent Uni is right in the middle of town - because there is a football stadium surround it all the local roads are permit holders only.

You have 4 choices the way I see it

1) If you are disabled you can get a free spot in the staff carpark which is right on site

2) You can park in a car park in town and walk 5 minutes - or you can use onstreet car parking which is £1.20

3) You can try and get a permit from someone who lives in St Mary's and just park for free on the road!

4) Just behind the main building in St Marys there is a long stay car park that usually has laods of spaces - can park there for a good few hours at £5 a time.

Or just park in St Marys and risk it - I have done it laods of times for various lengths - I did get £30 tickets a few times tho.

Remember tho that you will definitley get one day off and more than likely one of the other days will probably only have 1 or 2 hours on it. I think overall you will have to attend for about 14 hours or so - so just think of it as 14 paid hours of parking (not inc library time)

Reply 4

Clubber Lang

oh and I should add that it won;t cost anywhere near 230 quid a month - even at 20quid (max) a week its only 80 quid.

The car park behind st marys will probably get you an all day for £5 - and its free at like 5.30 if you need to stay on.

Reply 5

Flip_1606

I am travelling from Bognor to Solent this September as well, why not consider getting the train? Its only an hour each way to Uni - plus it will save you the hassle of the M27 and city centre traffic every morning! Have you thought of getting a railcard - if you travel outside peak times (which admittedly you wouldn't everyday) but on occasions you do a return costs as little as £8.

I drove down to Solent for the open day earlier in the year and cost around £6-7 for 5 hours parking. Plus the petrol etc, it must be cheaper in the long run to use trains instead of running the risk of parking fines or annoying residents..

Reply 6

Lee_831

You will find this a real pain, car parking around Southampton is hopeless!

The Solent University has no car park available for students. There are many multi-story car parks around the city centre but these can cost over £8 per day, and are quite far from the campus.
There is on-street parking available but this is around £1.20 an hour. There is a road around the rear of the campus, on (St Andrew's Road) which is often free and good for parking for, say, one or two hours.
Across the road from the uni is a privately owned car park, on New Road by the large red 'Park View Mansions' building.
This looks very dodgy and other cars block you in, my friend had his tyres let down in the middle of the day. Not recommended.

There used to be a 2-hour free car park in West Quay Retail Park, but this has since become pay and display also.
The best option for all day parking is the Leisure World Cinema car park, on West Quay Road. I believe it is £5 per day, or free in the afternoon only. It is however quite a long walk from the campus.

If you could get the train it would be much, much easier I would expect.
I would always recommend living in student accommodation where possible.

Hope this helps,
Lee